13ft vs Kavita
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted e-books & media library options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
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13ft
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VS
Kavita
Fast self-hosted digital library for all reading
| Feature | 13ft | Kavita |
|---|---|---|
| Category | E-books & Media Library | E-books & Media Library |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | C# |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 50 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,250 | ★ 11,431 |
| First released | 2023 | 2021 |
| Replaces | 12ft | Kindle, ComiXology |
Why pick each one
Choose 13ft if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (4.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is 13ft or Kavita better?
Neither is universally better. Kavita has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are 13ft and Kavita free and open-source?
Yes. 13ft is licensed under MIT and Kavita under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run 13ft and Kavita with Docker?
13ft: check the project docs for container support. Kavita: yes.